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Bubba Watson tears up again as he looks back on 2012 Masters win

Defending Masters champion Bubba Watson has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, so it wasn’t too surprising when he cried over his first PGA Tour win in 2010 or capturing his first major at the Masters a year ago.

But it was a surprise to see Watson break down a year after the fact Tuesday when asked what the most interesting thing he did with or in his green jacket.

Watson was recalling a conversation he had with Claude Nielsen, who moderated his press conference Tuesday. Nielsen had also driven him in a cart after last year’s playoff from the 10th green, where he had won on the second hole of a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen, back to Butler Cabin, where he received the green jacket that goes to the Masters champion.

Then, he added, “But I told him I was going to go home and wrap Caleb up in it.”

With that, Watson lost it, tears streaming down his face at the memory of the infant son he and wife Angie had adopted only days before the tournament began.

He tried to continue: “That’s the only thing I did with it. Out of respect, out of honor …” With that he lost it again, tears running down his cheeks.

Nielsen attempted to move on to the next question, but Watson stopped him in mid-sentence, saying, “I’ll finish this one. Try to.

“Out of respect and honor for Augusta National, as one of the greatest clubs we have, as one of the greatest tournaments, out of respect for them, I didn’t do any of my normal antics that I normally would do. Only thing I did was wrap Caleb up in it.” With that he paused again, wiping away tears, then added with a laugh, “That ends our press conference.”

Not surprisingly, Watson was asked repeatedly about the remarkable wedge he played out of the trees on No. 10 to 10 feet last year that proved the difference in his one-shot victory over Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff. He said when he and his wife were playing this past Sunday, he was coming off the 18th tee and looked over and saw a group of three men in the same area. He said he yelled, “No, that’s not the spot, it’s a little over,” and it turned out to be Billy Casper and his son.

He was told Padraig Harrington went to the spot Monday and was surprised there was no plaque to commemorate the shot. Asked if he would like to see one, he said, “Well, who wouldn’t want to see a plague that says ‘Bubba’ in the middle of the pine straw? But yes, I would never ask for a plaque. If I do it again this year, then there should be a plaque.”

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